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Posted by: david	7/31/2008
This has been a good week to start watching what I eat...not because of some special celebration or that the moon is in the right phase or that Jenny Craig is running a special. No. This has been a good week to start watching what I eat because the Bible has been helping me. Please understand. I'm not one of those folks who believes that you can open the Bible to just any page and get the answer to your most pressing personal question. Neither am I particularly interested in watching what I eat. Quite the opposite, I love to eat and eat a lot. You don't develop a masterful physique like mine without have taken up residence at a few good church potlucks. Rather, what's made this week tolerable on 1800 calories a day have been the readings appointed for this Sunday...in particular the Gospel lesson (Matthew 14:13-21). Go ahead. Pull out your Bible. Read it. I'll wait. . . . A familiar story, yes? And popular, too. In fact, the feeding of the five thousand is one of just a few events from Jesus' life (prior to crucifixion and resurrection) that are faithfully recorded by all four Gospels...a clue that this is something we should pay attention to. But what are we to notice? The need of the crowd? The compassion of Jesus? The uncertainty of the disciples? The deserted place itself so reminiscent of Israel's wandering in the wilderness? The fact that there was abundance to the point of leftovers? Yes to all these things. But there is one more detail that caught my eye this time like it had not before. Take another look at verse 18. The disciples have just finished whining about how they have nothing but five loaves and two fish...meager fare for a multitude. And Jesus said, "Bring them here to me." How many times have we been convinced that we just didn't have enough...enough money, enough food, enough power, enough courage to face the struggles of daily life? Bring your little bits to me, Jesus says. Trust that, in my hands...shared after my thanksgiving...you have more than you know. And trust that God will not abandon you to starve in the wilderness places of life. With Christ, at his table, there will always be enough. That's been a potent reminder for a week of smaller portions. Indeed, it is good news whenever we think that we just won't make it. Remember: we have a promise and a living hope in our risen Lord...this one who gives us himself that we might have life and have it abundantly. Just don't forget, in your frustration and fear, to bring whatever you have, no matter how big or small, to Jesus. In his hands, it is enough.

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